Musings of an Air Force Wife, Twin Mama, Worship Singer and Photographer

Family Photos

Two years ago was a big day for our little family. We went into the hospital early in the morning and had two of our three thriving embryos transferred into my body. There are no words to describe that experience. You hope and you pray that at least one of your embryos will implant and grow, but just as with everything else in life, there are no guarantees. As I lay on the table after the procedure, Ronnie and I sang and prayed. I still remember the words of the song clearly… “Oh my God, He will not delay. My refuge and strength, Always. I will not fear. His promise is true. My God will come through, Always. Always… I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord.” It was such a peaceful moment and I am thankful for that experience with my husband. At that point we had done all we could do and all that was left was to surrender. We were hopeful that our IVF procedure would work and even took this picture to document our “first family photo”…

Not many people get to see their babies as embryos, and I am so incredibly thankful that we got to watch our boys grow, literally from the beginning. As those of you who know us can testify, clearly the procedure worked for us and both of our embryos survived, and here we are as a family of four. We still have one embryo that is frozen and waiting for us. We are trying to decide when we will be ready to go through all of this again, continuing to hope and pray for another successful transfer. The entire IVF process just reminded me how fragile life is and what a miracle my boys truly are.

Unfortunately, just the day after our transfer, my Uncle Ken unexpectedly passed away from a massive heart attack. It was a devastating shock to our family and he is missed every single day. However, shortly after he passed away I found out that my IVF procedure worked and we were pregnant with not only one, but two babies. I like to think that God knew my family would need a reason to be joyful in the midst of their sadness, so he blessed us with Reed and Rory. It was interesting to mourn the passing of a loved one, yet rejoicing simultaneously for the conception of our miracle babies. In September of that year the twins were born, and two weeks later, on October 6, my Grandma Mary passed away. This was also a devastating blow to our family and still makes me tear-up every time I think about her. Once again, it was amazing to walk through the grieving process while also reveling in the joy of being a new Mom to my boys. I believe that the timing in both of these scenarios was in no way a coincidence, but that the Lord gave us these children at just the time when our family needed them most. Our boys are such a blessing to us and our extended families. Here is a current family photo…

Thank you Lord for blessing us with these two babies. You are always faithful in our time of need. Always.